Reviews tagging 'Stalking'

The Removed by Brandon Hobson

7 reviews

readingwithkaitlyn's review

reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Grief, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Drug use, Gun violence, Dementia, Drug abuse, and Racism

Moderate: Police brutality, Suicide, Stalking, Sexism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Sexual harassment, Mental illness, Confinement, Alcohol, Addiction, Misogyny, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Genocide, Colonisation, War, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Pedophilia, Infidelity, Car accident, Cancer, Terminal illness, and Fire/Fire injury

Trail of tears, f slur, s slur.

mbmayo's review

hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This book is told from multiple perspectives. I was moved by Maria's perspective of losing family to violence, drug addiction and illness. While Edgar's storyline became bizarre and the metaphors presented were quite overt, I still felt compelled by his story. The interjections from the spirit, Tsala, helped me step into a world filled with spirits. I found myself annoyed and confused by Sonya's story line. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Chronic illness, Sexual assault, Death, Addiction, Dementia, Drug abuse, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Stalking, Colonisation, Drug use, Grief, Genocide, and Violence

Minor: Confinement and Racism

colettesjourney's review

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Blood, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Grief, Gun violence, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Police brutality, Racism, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, and Toxic relationship

mmefish's review

emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I saw, too, the manifestations of others like me: the roaring bear in the woods; the soulful, howling coyote; the eagle circling in the endless sky; and I knew I was not alone. A satisfaction came over me when I saw these things, and for a moment I felt my anger lift away in the silence of the night. I was calmed by the sounds and visions of the night as I moved forward. I thought of what I taught you, beloved: harmony and peace. Anger is like flooding water, slowly building destruction.

Beautiful, sad and captivating.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Drug use, Grief, Mental illness, and Racism

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, and Stalking

Minor: Animal cruelty

darcyreadssometimes's review

dark emotional reflective sad tense

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This book was trippy, unsettling, and stunning. The story is told through multiple perspectives, with three from present day characters and one from Tsala, an important person in Cherokee legend. There is not a clear line between the spirit world and our world, and one of the characters struggles with drug addiction, so things are not always as they seem. This felt like literary fiction with splashes of horror. The ending had me feeling a little confused, sad, but also hopeful. I don’t want to say more for fear of spoiling anything, but I’ll leave this quote:

𝘞𝘺𝘢𝘵𝘵 𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘷𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘴.
“𝘓𝘰𝘰𝘬, 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬.” 𝘞𝘺𝘢𝘵𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥, “𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘰𝘯, 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵? 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺’𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦, 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵? 𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶.”

This was also my first read in my 2021 challenge to myself to read at least 12 books by Indigenous authors. Things I googled (and would recommend googling) to enhance my reading experience: the Trail of Tears, Tsala, and the Darkening.

While I don’t think this book is for everyone, I recommend it, especially to people who enjoy literary fiction, who like weird books, who appreciate morally grey characters, and who like seeking connections across seemingly disparate storylines.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Violence, Stalking, and Domestic abuse

happiestwhenreading's review

challenging dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

I largely believe Native American voices are missing from mainstream books, so I am really happy to see them getting more attention. After reading Betty towards the end of last year, I knew I wanted to continue reading books, not only written by Native American voices, but books that also incorporated Native American beliefs, customs, and mythology.

The synopsis for The Removed promised all of those things, but unfortunately, it totally fell flat for me. I went into it blind, so I think at least part of the problem was my misguided understanding of what the book was about. I was expecting a thriller, but more of a contemporary fiction + magical realism/mythology story.

I loved how Hobson explored the effects of grief on each of Ray-Ray’s family members. It looked different for each of them, and I was immeditately drawn to the reality of that situation. I also liked how Hobson created a dreamlike quality in his writing; I almost felt like I was in a fever dream for most of the story. Unfortunately, the rest of the book – character development, ease of reading, and the overall story – felt underdeveloped and left me wanting more. It was a valient effort considering this is Hobson’s debut, but it ended up being lackluster for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Genocide

Moderate: Gun violence, Murder, Police brutality, and Stalking

thesaltiestlibrarian's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

 Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. The opinions expressed herein are mine alone and may not reflect the views of the author, publisher, or distributor.

Brandon Hobson wrote a book that is less than 300 pages, but has enough content and meaning to unpack that you could teach half a unit on this book by itself. The Removed killed me. But it healed me too.

I don’t want to get into specifics, because now that I’ve finished it, this book needs to be experienced going in blind. The blurb gives you as much as I want to give you, just enough to prepare you for the hardness of the subject matter. Brandon Hobson does the rest.

At once heartbreaking and sublime, Hobson’s prose and characters force you to come back and finish the story. I was about a third of the way through and had considered DNF-ing this, but I’m SO glad that I didn’t. I can’t place my finger on where--maybe the halfway mark--something hooked me again, and I had to know how everything would turn out. What started out as confusion and frustration became sudden epiphany and perfect sense when the climax dropped me into falling action. All the questions I’d had got wrapped up and answered, and I’m still feeling the squeeze in my heart more than twelve hours after finishing the last sentence.

What a beautiful little book. Current, horrible, sad, healing. I hate this book for making me love it so much. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Police brutality, Suicidal thoughts, Racial slurs, Grief, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Addiction

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Stalking, Genocide, Death, Cursing, and Child death